Mountain Project Logo

2014 Colorado Snow Climbing Thread

John Sims · · Lander, WY · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 20

Thanks for the photos and info andy. Its amazing that they are still up sp late this year.

TheYooper · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2014 · Points: 5
john sims wrote:Thanks for the photos and info andy. Its amazing that they are still up sp late this year.
Oh, what up J Sims? You need to get out to the Western Slope to bag some late summer peaks.
Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425

Anybody been up to the Navajo / Apache snowfields lately? Looks pretty continuous, but i'm curios if it's going over to alpine ice yet and if it's not is it worth skiing / boarding. I don't wanna hump my deck back to find nothing but sastrugi and black ice.

Rocky_Mtn_High · · Arvada, CO · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 230

A friend climbed up there last weekend and had this to say about Queen's Way couloir:
This late in the season, beneath a 1 inch layer of newish snow was bullet hard alpine ice. The top layer would just slough off the bottom layer. It was like walking up sand dunes.

Apache-Navajo circuit. Photo by Jason K.

Queen's Way Couloir. Photo by Jason K.

Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425

oh man thanks. haha climbing yes, but I think i like my life a little more than that to ski it. Unless I wanna go 90mph with no turns.

Bottle rocket for sure.

Maximilian Ritter · · Jackson, WY · Joined Nov 2011 · Points: 0

Anyone been up towards lambs slide recently?

Eric Klammer · · Eagle, CO · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 2,070
Maximilian Ritter wrote:Anyone been up towards lambs slide recently?
Still good snow as of today. Some ice towards the sides and plenty of rocks in the snow though. Quick and easy climbing, wouldn't want to ski it.
Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425

Yeah I was being hoepful and silly to think riding was good and safe in apart October. Haha I know but but the jones is happening

Maximilian Ritter · · Jackson, WY · Joined Nov 2011 · Points: 0

Thanks Eric, too choppy to ski or what?

Eric Klammer · · Eagle, CO · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 2,070
Maximilian Ritter wrote:Thanks Eric, too choppy to ski or what?
Choppy/cupped, lots of rock, small patches of ice here and there. Who knows though, after the next couple days of weather it might have a nice fresh layer on top!
Eli Helmuth · · Ciales, PR · Joined Aug 2001 · Points: 3,441
Lambslide and lower east face of Long's, 9/26/14.
Looked like an inch of snow covering Longs and Meeker this morning down to 12k from last night's storm. Forecast is for a few more inches the next 24hrs up there so sloughing could happen and it seems warm enough that bonding could be good between old and new snow layers.

Kieners was in good shape w/ neve snow and AI2 in Lambslide, loose rock entering Broadway, dry to the summit with 1-2" of snow and some ice covering 50% of the North Face descent and 5.4 rappel pitch (50m) covered w/1" ice.

It's relatively warm up there at the moment and not not a cold storm so ice formation may be minimal and this could just be an extra shot of snow to melt into ice in the near future?
Rocky_Mtn_High · · Arvada, CO · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 230

Ptarmigan Fingers couloir snow was surprisingly solid. We went up expecting mostly ice, but the wind crust on top of a foot (+/-) of consolidated snow made for excellent step kicking. I didn't notice significant crystallization or depth hoar (yet!), so apparently the night temps are not yet cold enough to cause a large temperature gradiant across the snowpack, or else the snow was simply too fresh.

Ptarmigan Fingers 05 Oct 2014. We went up to the left.

Steve ascends firm snow on a Ptarmigan Finger couloir.

Christopher.D.Thomas · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2014 · Points: 150

Went up the same route on Monday, 6 October 2014. Fantastic climbing!

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Colorado
Post a Reply to "2014 Colorado Snow Climbing Thread"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.